I hated relaxer day! While many women looked forward to fixing their roots and having swinging' hair, I hated my freshly done hair.

Why you ask? Because it had no life. It was long, jet black and perfectly straight, but it was thin. If placed in a ponytail, it looked bald from afar, and dropping it and having it fall lifelessly around my face was never an option. Add to the mix my disastrous encounter with a certain product line which won’t be named that broke and thinned out my hair some more, let’s just say that what the doctor prescribed was not the miracle for my hair. I was so fed up that I decided to go natural and have the thick gorgeous hair of which I had always dreamed.

I wanted disrespectfully big hair that blocked people in movie theaters and required people to walk around it on the sidewalk. I wanted to rock twists and big, yet defined, twist and braid outs. I wanted feel the wind blowing through my hair, not on my scalp.

Fast forward two years and I’m still waiting for the thickness, but tomorrow I’ll look like Chaka.

The truth is, not every natural has thick hair. More specifically, not every natural in the 4 category has thick hair. Because of my coils and waves when I wear my hair loose, it appears to be denser than it really is, but the moment I twist or braid my hair it becomes very apparent that I just wasn’t blessed with a lot of hair. If you are a fine haired natural, you can probably relate to a lot of my issues.

I know it’s wrong to be jealous, but I have to admit that I’m envious of thick haired people and all their hair. I know, I know, thick hair people want finer hair too. The grass is greener on the other side I guess. Either way, I have good reasons for wanting your thick mane!

Scalp-y Twists

Not every natural has thick hair. More specifically, not every natural in the 4 category has thick hair. If you are a fine haired natural, you can probably relate to a lot of my issues.

When I was newly natural, I wanted to speed up my growth and thought I’d take a stab at some protective styling. After three plus hours I looked at the front of my hair and thought, “Not bad for my first try."

I then left my house and thought I looked good, but once arriving home and looking at the back I was dismayed to find that I showed more scalp than twist. Unlike my thick or medium haired sisters, I simply don’t have enough hair to rock juicy twists, and I hate that. But I have found a few ways around this issue:

Blow drying my hair first then twisting it prevents shrinkage and "scalpiness."

Over Fluffing

As a fine haired natural, hiding my scalp is something I have become accustomed to. When I see videos with women simply unraveling and separating twists for fierce twist outs, I have to fight my inner jealous self. After releasing my twists, I have to do just about everything to hide my scalp.

I have tried fluffing both upright and with my head upside down, separating twists until no end, massaging my scalp and combing out my roots. And don’t get me started on the yoga/gymnastic twists I have to do in front of the mirror with another one in my hand assessing the back of my head for peek-a-boo scalp. But, after many a trial and tribulation, I have figured out that if I style on already stretched hair I can get more volume.

I’m going to give it to you straight, no chaser: you are going to have to sacrifice definition for bigness, because we thin haired girls will have to separate and fluff more than the average curly.

Now that I’ve ranted and raved and doled out a little advice, I feel so much better. But it would be good to know that I’m not the only one, so let me know about your experiences with thin hair.

As always, remember to have love, peace and curly haired bliss.

naturallychelsea

Like what you see?

Sign up for our newsletter to get more tips and tricks

0 Comments

More Comments

I liked the piece but I was disappointed in once section of this article because I think it will add to the confusion. The part I mean is about dense haired ladies wanting fine hair. One doesn't negate the other. Fine hair is the opposite of coarse hair. Thin hair is the opposite of dense hair. Fine/Course refers to the thickness of the individual strand where thin/dense is about the amount of hairs on on your head. I have a lot of hair so my hair is dense. I have no need to be jealouse of fine hair ladies because individually my strands are thin. My hair is fine and prone to buildup so heavy butters can pose a problem. I'm 4a/3c.
You can be any type and have fine hair. I've read most type 4's have fine hair.

As I read this I was thinking in my head "EXACTLY!!!" My hair is no where near thick but it isn't fine either it's somewhere in between. When I decided to embrace my natural hair I tried twist outs and braid outs and wondered why mine was never as big as the examples I was trying to emulate. When I wanted to rock twists as a protective style I had a quick change of heart when I saw how skimpy they were. I thought when my hair grows it'll be different BUT no change with growth. I have noticed that my hair ROCKS in a WnG, I get a lot of shrinkage but my coils are perfect and full so that's my go-to style in the warm months :)

When I read this I was like "Wow, someone who feels like I do". I totally understand your feelings. I see ladies with 4 hair and they are full and long and just awesome. I become somewhat taken back because I have not come anywhere close to that in years. I realize that I have a mix head of hair. Part thin and part thick. So because of this I have areas in my head that just lay flat and then I have areas that will provide volume. With that being said, I know it sucks but I realize I love my hair anyway. Because at least it is healthy.

Agreed! It's so frustrating. I get my coils looking good, perfectly coifed in the mirror and then when I'm in bright light and have a mirror, waaaah! Learning to accept what I have. Thanks for the tips.

I feel you! I am a 4c, with thin hair. My coils are sooo tiny and tightly packed that my hair feels like its really thick, but when my hair was longer, I'd do a twist out and see so much scalp and think "where did all that hair go!!" Thanks for the tips!!